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PRISCILLA B DEWEY

  (1924 - 2012)
Nationality:    USA
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Freelance Press  

Arts consultant, producer, playwright, lyricist, and writer, Priscilla "Nissy" Dewey Houghton was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1924, the daughter of Priscilla (Badger) and William Cameron Blackett. She had two brothers, William and Arthur, also known as "Buddy." William Cameron Blackett served with the Field Artillery during World War I and was later transferred to the Artillery Aerial Observation School at Tours, France, and served with the 90th Aero Squadron; after the war, he co-founded the Torbell Company, which published The Open Road, described as "the magazine for young men." He was killed in a train accident when Houghton was a baby. She lived in Chestnut Hill and Wellesley Farms, Massachusetts, with her maternal grandparents, Arthur Campbell Badger and Grace Richardson Learnard Badger, for much of her childhood. In the 1930s, her mother became head counselor at Alford Lake Camp, and Houghton attended the camp for several summers. Her mother died when she was seventeen. She graduated from Pine Manor College in Brookline, Massachusetts, in 1944 and then studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She received her M.A. from Goddard College in 1979 and was awarded an honorary doctorate by Pine Manor College in 2004. She married Talbot Dewey in 1946. They settled in Millis, Massachusetts, and had three children: Priscilla, known as "Kippy" (born in 1948), Talbot Jr., known as "Toby" (born in 1950), and Peter (born in 1952). Dewey served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. After the war, he worked as a sales consultant and was active in civic affairs. He and Houghton also shared an interest in the theater. In 1955, Houghton was stricken with polio. She was bedridden for a year and began writing plays and staging them in her barn to entertain her children and their friends while she was recuperating. Her theatrical work includes the musicals The Mouse in the White House (1970, music by Bob Oliver); The Unsinkable Helen of Troy (1970, music by Catherine Stornetta); Two If By Sea (1970, music by Tony Hutchins; produced off Broadway in 1972); Prime Time (with Bob and Cathy Oliver, 1971); Rip's New Wrinkle (1971, music by Tony Hutchins); King Arthur's Knights and Days (1972, music by Tony Hutchins); The Pied Piper (1974, music by Tony Hutchins); The Young Country (1976, music by Tony Hutchins). To Find A Rose (1978, music by Tony Hutchins); Dearo Family (1979, book by Houghton and David L. Downing, music and lyrics by Tom Megan); and Chanticleer (1989, music by Katrina Cameron). She also had articles published in The Boston Globe, the Christian Science Monitor, the New York Times, and several magazines. In 1970, she co-founded the Charles River Creative Arts Program in Dover, Massachusetts, a summer day program which aimed to provide an environment in which children could develop and pursue artistic interests. She served as its director from 1972 to 1980, as co-director (with her son Toby) from 1980 to 1986, and as arts consultant from 1987 to 1989. The program's success led to organizations in over twenty five states following its model; similar programs were also developed in Switzerland, England, Australia, and Hong Kong. Houghton also co-founded and served as director of the North End-Waterfront Arts Council, which was intended to foster the community's interest in the arts and in civic improvement, in 1974 or 1975. She remained involved with the Council until 1982. She also served as managing editor of the Freelance Press, publishers of musical theater and arts curricula, from 1978 to 1989, and was active in the Episcopal Church, both locally and nationally, teaching Sunday School and serving as a member of the church's Committee on Observance of the Bicentennial of the Nation. In 1985, she co-produced the bicentennial celebration of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts at Symphony Hall. Talbot Dewey died of cancer in 1983 and Houghton moved to Cohasset, Massachusetts. Although a lifetime nonsmoker, she was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1987 and had a part of her lung removed; the cancer recurred in 2003. In 1989 she married Amory "Amo" Houghton, a Republican Congressman from New York State and a longtime friend, and relocated to Georgetown in Washington, DC, and Corning, New York. Amory Houghton was elected nine times, retiring from Congress in 2005. Houghton frequently campaigned for her husband, speaking on the arts and women's issues, and often accompanied him on political trips. Both Houghtons were active members of Friends of Zimbabwe, an international group working for a Democratic Zimbabwe. They also became very involved with the Living Stage Theatre, a venture of Arena Stage. Houghton served as a trustee of Arena Stage and as a member of the committee on Living Stage. Living Stage's mission was to transform individuals and communities through creative empowerment. It aimed to achieve this through a variety of workshops offered to children, youth, teachers, parents, and community members. Houghton was actively involved in the fund-raising plays put on by the Living Stage. Politicians and political commentators frequently performed in these productions and both Houghtons successfully recruited a number of participants. Amory Houghton also performed in many productions with his band, the Swing Voters. Houghton helped found the Women's Network of the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes, aimed to enhance networking opportunities for women, and served on the boards or as trustee of the Millis Public Library, the Boston Conservatory of the Performing Arts, Freelance Players, and Urban Improv (Boston). The latter two organizations were founded by her children Kippy and Toby, with the goal of using theater to encourage imagination, self-expression, mutual respect, and confidence in young people. A frequent speaker on the arts, women, and spirituality, Houghton died of cancer July 6, 2012. Priscilla B Dewey was a member of Dramatist Guild of America. - http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/

Research:    http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch01464

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below is a list of Priscilla B Dewey's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

        Chanticleer         Dearo Family         King Arthur's Knights & Days         Mouse In the White House, The         Pied Piper, The         Prime Time         Rip's New Wrinkle         To Find A Rose         Two If By Sea         Unsinkable Helen of Troy         Young Country